Clifton CC are Champions

Clifton eased to a swift and comprehensive 9-wicket victory over Wollaton at the Clifton Oval to clinch their third successive Premier League title. The visitors won the toss and batted first but were disappointingly dismissed for just 115 inside 25 overs with only Anthony Keely making a significant contribution with 32. Adam Shepherd was the chief destroyer with the remarkable figures of 6.4-1-41-6 and Alastair Walters led the fielding effort with three catches and two stumpings. Clifton raced to victory in just 17.2 overs for the loss of one wicket with skipper Richard Harris and Dan Birch both finishing unbeaten on 59 and 44 respectively.

West Indian Cavaliers were the only side that this morning could also have won the title but they needed Clifton to lose; they have to be satisfied with second spot and they celebrated by inflicting a six wicket victory over Cuckney at Birchover Park. The visitors batted first and despite Will Butler’s 52 were skittled for just 124 with Saqlain Mushtaq again grabbing the headlines with a return on 7-34 from his 12 overs. This haul brings his season tally to 71, second only to Eddie Hemmings 76 for Caythorpe in 2001. Cavs skipper Usman Afzaal led from the front again with 45 in their response of 125 for 4 inside 25 overs.

The Nottinghamshire Academy finish in third place and had the best of a draw with Welbeck at Sookholme, with the home side finishing in fourth. The county side took first knock and scored a very competitive 246 for 9 in their 50 over allocation with Sam Kelsall scoring 65 with excellent support from Brett Hutton with 56 and Adam Dobb with 40; Guy Darwin ended his season well with figures of 4-70. The home side’s reply finished on 191 for 5 with Matt Higgins starring with 81 not out and Martyn Dobson 47.

Caythorpe’s season came to a bit of a disappointing end when they went down to a comprehensive 8 wicket loss away at Kimberley; the visitors dismissed for 140 in 38 overs with the majority of those runs coming from the bat of Josh Mierkalns who was ninth out for 90. Matt Wright returned his best Premier League figures since 2009 with 5-52. In another game that finished early, two former Caythorpe players saw Kimberley over the line in just 37 overs – skipper Sam Ogrizovic ending on 58 and James Mann 39.

Kiveton finished bottom of the table, nearly 100 points short of safety and signed off with a six-wicket loss away at Papplewick. The visitors batted first and were all out for 183 in 47 overs with Christopher Hadley grabbing 61, Roger Spurr 30 and Luke Donaghy 30. Papplewick got the winning runs on the 43^rd over with more runs for Alex Lloyd (84) with support from Tim Clarke (34). Despite the loss, Donaghy will look back with satisfaction on his day as he took 4-44.

Belvoir are the other relegated side and they finished their season by getting the better of a draw at home to Mansfield Hosiery Mills. The home side went to tea on 206 for 7 thanks mainly to 57 from James Needle and 41 from Ollie Clayfield; KC Jayasinghe was the leading bowler for the Millers with 4-36. The visitors in reply hung on to the draw at 187 for 9 with Gareth Curtis rounding off an excellent season with 67 and Stephen Ludlam scoring 31. Phil Irvine and Lee Fazackerley were the leading Belvoir bowlers with 4-47 and 3-29 respectively. Belvoir’s Darren Bicknell narrowly missed out on 1000 runs for the season, a remarkable return considering he missed the first three games and this is the highest ever run aggregate for a player in a relegated side.